Friday, May 18, 2012

Jane's Addiction- Ritual de lo habitual

Number 453 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Ritual de lo habitual is the second full studio album (third overall) by Jane's Addiction, released on August 21, 1990 on Warner Brothers. Co-produced by Dave Jerden, it was the band's final studio album before their initial break-up in 1991. Singles from Ritual de lo habitual include "Been Caught Stealing" and "Stop!". Ritual de lo habitual is certified 3x Platinum in the U.S., by CAN gold and by BPI gold.

The album is roughly broken into two parts. Tracks 1–5 consist of unrelated hard rock style songs. The cassette tape of this album has about ten minutes of silence on side "A". Tracks 6–9, as a whole are in memoriam of singer Perry Farrell's deceased friend known as Xiola Blue, who died of a heroin-overdose in 1987 at the age of 19 ("Then She Did" also chronicles Farrell's mother's suicide when he was 4 years old). "Three Days" and "Then She Did," in particular, have a heavy progressive rock influence, while "Of Course" carries a heavy Eastern-influence, with a prominent violin throughout.

Two versions of the disc packaging were created: one cover featured artwork by singer Perry Farrell, related to the song "Three Days" and including male and female nudity; the other cover has been called the "clean cover", and features only black text on a white background, listing the band name, album name, and the text of the First Amendment (the "freedom of speech" amendment) of the U.S. Constitution. The back cover of the "clean cover" also contains the text:
"Hitler's syphilis-ridden dreams almost came true. How could it happen? By taking control of the media. An entire country was led by a lunatic... We must protect our First Amendment, before sick dreams become law. Nobody made fun of Hitler??!"
The "clean cover" was created so the CD could be distributed in stores who refused to stock items with nudity on the front cover.